TY - JOUR A1 - Marques, T. S. A1 - Schürmann, Robin A1 - Ebel, Kenny A1 - Heck, C. A1 - Smialek, M. A1 - Eden, Sam A1 - Mason, N. A1 - Bald, Ilko T1 - Kinetics of molecular decomposition under irradiation of gold nanoparticles with nanosecond laser pulses-A 5-Bromouracil case study N2 - Laser illuminated gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) efficiently absorb light and heat up the surrounding medium, leading to versatile applications ranging from plasmonic catalysis to cancer photothermal therapy. Therefore, an in-depth understanding of the thermal, optical, and electron induced reaction pathways is required. Here, the electrophilic DNA nucleobase analog 5-Bromouracil (BrU) has been used as a model compound to study its decomposition in the vicinity of AuNPs illuminated with intense ns laser pulses under various conditions. The plasmonic response of the AuNPs and the concentration of BrU and resulting photoproducts have been tracked by ultraviolet and visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy as a function of the irradiation time. A kinetic model has been developed to determine the reaction rates of two parallel fragmentation pathways of BrU, and their dependency on laser fluence and adsorption on the AuNP have been evaluated. In addition, the size and the electric field enhancement of the decomposed AuNPs have been determined by atomic force microscopy and finite domain time difference calculations, respectively. A minor influence of the direct photoreaction and a strong effect of the heating of the AuNPs have been revealed. However, due to the size reduction of the irradiated AuNPs, a trade-off between laser fluence and plasmonic response of the AuNPs has been observed. Hence, the decomposition of the AuNPs might be limiting the achievable temperatures under irradiation with several laser pulses. These findings need to be considered for an efficient design of catalytic plasmonic systems. KW - Kinetics KW - Gold nanoparticles KW - 5-Bromouracil PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5137898 VL - 152 IS - 12 SP - 24712 EP - 24712 PB - AIP Publishing AN - OPUS4-50787 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schürmann, Robin A1 - Bald, Ilko T1 - Decomposition of DNA nucleobases by laser irradiation of gold nanoparticles monitored by surface-enhanced Raman scattering N2 - Different approaches have been proposed to treat cancer cells using gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in combination with radiation ranging from infrared lasers to high-energy ion beams. Here we study the decomposition of the DNA/RNA nucleobases thymine (T) and uracil (U) and the well-known radiosensitizer 5-bromouracil (BrU) in close vicinity to AuNPs, which are irradiated with a nanosecond pulsed laser (532 nm) matching the surface plasmon resonance of the AuNPs. The induced damage of nucleobases is analyzed by UV−vis Absorption spectroscopy and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). A clear DNA damage is observed upon laser irradiation. SERS spectra indicate the fragmentation of the aromatic ring system of T and U as the dominant form of damage, whereas with BrU mainly the cleavage of the Br−C bond and formation of Br− ions is observed. This is accompanied by a partial transformation of BrU into U. The observed damage is at least partly ascribed to the intermediate formation of lowenergy electrons from the laser-excited AuNPs and subsequent dissociative electron attachment to T, U, and BrU. These reactions represent basic DNA damage pathways occurring on the one hand in plasmon-assisted cancer therapy and on the other hand in conventional cancer radiation therapy using AuNPs as sensitizing agents. KW - Gold nanoparticles KW - SERS KW - Electrons KW - DNA damage KW - Gold-Nanopartikel KW - Elektronen KW - DNA-Schädigung PY - 2016 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.5b10564 VL - 120 IS - 5 SP - 3001 EP - 3009 PB - AMER CHEMICAL SOC AN - OPUS4-35673 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ribar, A. A1 - Huber, S. E. A1 - Smiałek, M. A. A1 - Tanzer, K. A1 - Neustetter, M. A1 - Schürmann, Robin A1 - Bald, Ilko A1 - Denifl, S. T1 - Hydroperoxyl radical and formic acid formation from common DNA stabilizers upon low energy electron attachment N2 - 2-Amino-2-(hydroxymethyl)-1,3-propanediol (TRIS) and ethylene-diaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) are key components of biological buffers and are frequently used as DNA stabilizers in irradiation studies. Such surface or liquid phase studies are done with the aim to understand the fundamental mechanisms of DNA radiation damage and to improve cancer radiotherapy. When ionizing radiation is used, abundant secondary electrons are formed during the irradiation process, which are able to attach to the molecular compounds present on the surface. In the present study we experimentally investigate low energy electron attachment to TRIS and methyliminodiacetic acid (MIDA), an analogue of EDTA, supported by quantum chemical calculations. The most prominent dissociation channel for TRIS is through hydroperoxyl radical formation, whereas the dissociation of MIDA results in the formation of formic and acetic acid. These compounds are well-known to cause DNA modifications, like strand breaks. The present results indicate that buffer compounds may not have an exclusive protecting effect on DNA as suggested previously. KW - DEA KW - DNA KW - Low energy electrons KW - Mass spectrometry PY - 2018 UR - http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2018/cp/c7cp07697e DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/c7cp07697e VL - 20 IS - 8 SP - 5578 EP - 5585 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-44703 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Meiling, T. T. A1 - Schürmann, Robin A1 - Vogel, Stefanie A1 - Ebel, Kenny A1 - Nicolas, C. A1 - Milosavljević, A. R. A1 - Bald, Ilko T1 - Photophysics and chemistry of nitrogen-doped carbon nanodots with high photoluminescence quantum yield N2 - Fluorescent carbon nanodots (CNDs) are very promising nanomaterials for a broad range of applications because of their high photostability, presumed selective luminescence, and low cost at which they can be produced. In this respect, CNDs are superior to well-established semiconductor quantum dots and organic dyes. However, reported synthesis protocols for CNDs typically lead to low photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) and low reproducibility, resulting in a poor understanding of the CND chemistry and photophysics. Here, we report a one-step synthesis of nitrogen-doped carbon nanodots (N-CNDs) from various carboxylic acids, Tris, and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid resulting in high PLQY of up to 90%. The reaction conditions in terms of starting materials, temperature, and reaction time are carefully optimized and their influence on the photophysical properties is characterized. We find that citric acid-derived N-CNDs can result in a very high PLQY of 90%, but they do not Show selective luminescence. By contrast, acetic acid-derived N-CNDs show selective luminescence but a PLQY of 50%. The chemical composition of the surface and core of these two selected N-CND types is characterized among others by high-Resolution synchrotron X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy using single isolated N-CND clusters. The results indicate that photoexcitation occurs in the N-CND core, whereas the emission properties are determined by the N-CND surface groups. KW - Carbon nanodots KW - Fluorescence KW - Synchrotron XPS PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b00748 SN - 1932-7447 VL - 122 IS - 18 SP - 10217 EP - 10230 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington, DC AN - OPUS4-45426 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schürmann, Robin A1 - Vogel, Stefanie A1 - Ebel, Kenny A1 - Bald, Ilko T1 - The physico-chemical basis of DNA radiosensitization: Implications for cancer radiation therapy N2 - High-energy radiation is used in combination with radiosensitizing therapeutics to treat cancer. The most common radiosensitizers are halogenatednucleo-sides and cisplatin derivatives, and recently also metal nanoparticles have been suggested as potentialradiosensitizing agents. The radiosensitizingaction of these compounds can at least partly be ascribed to an enhancedreactivity towards secondary low-energy electrons generated along the radiation track of the high-energyprimary radiation, or to an additional emission of secondary reactive electrons close to the tumor tissue. This is referred to as physico-chem ical radiosensitization. In this Conceptarticle we presentcurrent experimental methodsused to study fundamentalprocesses of physico-chemical radiosensitization and discuss the most relevant classes of radiosensitizers. Open questions in the current discussions are identified and future directions outlined, which can lead to optimized treatment protocols or even novel therapeuticconcepts. KW - DNA KW - Radiosensitization KW - Radiation damage KW - Low energy electrons PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.201800804 SN - 1521-3765 SN - 0947-6539 VL - 24 IS - 41 SP - 10271 EP - 10279 PB - WILEY AN - OPUS4-45742 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schürmann, Robin A1 - Bald, Ilko T1 - Effect of adsorption kinetics on dissociation of DNA-nucleobases on gold nanoparticles under pulsed laser illumination N2 - Photothermal therapy is a novel approach to destroy cancer cells by an increase of temperature due to laser illumination of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) that are incorporated into the cells. Here, we study the decomposition of DNA nucleobases via irradiation of gold nanoparticles with ns-laser pulses. The kinetics of the adsorption and decomposition process is described by a theoretical model based on the Langmuir assumptions and correlated with experimentally determined reaction rates revealing a strong influence of the nucleobase specific adsorption. Beside the four nucleobases, their brominated analogs, which are potential radiosensitizers in cancer therapy, are also investigated and show a significant modification of the decomposition rates. The fastest decomposition rates are observed for adenine, 8-bromoadenine, 8-bromoguanine and 5-bromocytosine. These results are in good agreement with the relative adsorption rates that are determined from the aggregation kinetics of the GNPs taking the effect of an inhomogeneous surface into account. For adenine and its brominated analog, the decomposition products are further analyzed by surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) indicating a strong fragmentation of the molecules into their smallest subunits. KW - Gold nanoparticle KW - DNA damage KW - Kinetics KW - Pulsed Laser KW - Physical Chemistry PY - 2017 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/c6cp08433h SN - 1463-9076 SN - 1463-9084 VL - 19 IS - 17 SP - 10796 EP - 10803 AN - OPUS4-40070 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schürmann, Robin A1 - Bald, Ilko T1 - Real-time monitoring of plasmon induced dissociative electron transfer to the potential DNA radiosensitizer 8-bromoadenine N2 - The excitation of localized surface plasmons in noble metal nanoparticles (NPs) results in different nanoscale effects such as electric field enhancement, the generation of hot electrons and a temperature increase close to the NP surface. These effects are typically exploited in diverse fields such as surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), NP catalysis and photothermal therapy (PTT). Halogenated nucleobases are applied as radiosensitizers in conventional radiation cancer therapy due to their high reactivity towards secondary electrons. Here, we use SERS to study the transformation of 8-bromoadenine (8BrA) into adenine on the surface of Au and AgNPs upon irradiation with a low-power continuous wave laser at 532, 633 and 785 nm, respectively. The dissociation of 8BrA is ascribed to a hot-electron transfer reaction and the underlying kinetics are carefully explored. The reaction proceeds within seconds or even milliseconds. Similar dissociation reactions might also occur with other electrophilic molecules, which must be considered in the interpretation of respective SERS spectra. Furthermore, we suggest that hot-electron transfer induced dissociation of radiosensitizers such as 8BrA can be applied in the future in PTT to enhance the damage of tumor tissue upon irradiation. KW - SERS KW - Nanoparticles KW - Hot electrons KW - Bromoadenine KW - Catalysis PY - 2017 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-396469 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/C6NR08695K SN - 2040-3364 SN - 2040-3372 VL - 9 IS - 5 SP - 1951 EP - 1955 PB - RSC AN - OPUS4-39646 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schürmann, Robin A1 - Tanzer, Katrin A1 - Dąbkowska, Iwona A1 - Denifl, Stephan A1 - Bald, Ilko T1 - Stability of the parent anion of the potential radiosensitizer 8 ‑ Bromoadenine formed by low-energy (<3 eV) electron attachment N2 - 8-Bromoadenine (8BrA) is a potential DNA radiosensitizer for cancer radiation therapy due to its efficient interaction with low-energy electrons (LEEs). LEEs are a short-living species generated during the radiation damage of DNA by high-energy radiation as it is applied in cancer radiation therapy. Electron attachment to 8BrA in the gas phase results in a stable parent anion below 3 eV electron energy in addition to fragmentation products formed by resonant exocyclic bond cleavages. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations of the 8BrA– anion reveal an exotic bond between the bromine and the C8 atom with a bond length of 2.6 Å, where the majority of the charge is located on bromine and the spin is mainly located on the C8 atom. The detailed understanding of such long-lived anionic states of nucleobase analogues supports the rational development of new therapeutic agents, in which the enhancement of dissociative electron transfer to the DNA backbone is critical to induce DNA strand breaks in cancerous tissue. KW - Dissociative electron attachment KW - DNA damage KW - Radiosensitization KW - Mass spectrometry PY - 2017 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcb.7b02130 SN - 1520-6106 VL - 121 IS - 23 SP - 5730 EP - 5734 AN - OPUS4-40963 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schürmann, Robin A1 - Tsering, Thupten A1 - Tanzer, Katrin A1 - Denifl, Stephan A1 - Kumar, S.V.K. A1 - Bald, Ilko T1 - Resonante Bildung von Strangbrüchen in sensibilisierten Oligonukleotiden induziert durch niederenergetische Elektronen (0.5–9.0 eV) N2 - In der Krebs-Strahlentherapie werden halogenierte Nukleinbasen als Radiosensibilisatoren eingesetzt, um die Reaktivität der DNA gegenüber niederenergetischen Elektro- nen (NEEs) zu erhöhen. NEEs erzeugen DNA-Strangbrüche bei spezifischen Energien (Resonanzen) durch dissoziative Elektronenanlagerung (DEA). Obwohl halogenierte Nukle- inbasen intensive DEA-Resonanzen bei verschiedenen Elek-tronenenergien in der Gasphase aufweisen, kann der Einfluss der halogenierten Nukleinbasen auf tatsächliche DNA-Strangbrüche grundsätzlich nur schwer über den Energiebereich, in dem DEA stattfindet (< 12 eV), untersucht werden. Mithilfe von DNA-Origami-Nanostrukturen haben wir die Energieabhängigkeit der Wirkungsquerschnitte für DNA-Strangbrüche von Oligonukleotiden bestimmt, die mit 8- Bromadenin (8BrA) modifiziert wurden. Diese Ergebnisse wurden mit DEA-Messungen an isoliertem 8BrA in der Gas-phase verglichen. Entgegen der Erwartungen wird der Großteil der Strangbrüche durch Resonanzen um 7 eV hervorgerufen, wohingegen der Einfluss von Resonanzen bei sehr niedrigen Energien (< 2eV) auf die Strangbrüche gering ist. KW - DNA Schäden KW - Niederenergetische Elektronen KW - DNA Nanotechnologie KW - Dissoziative Elektronen Anlagerung PY - 2017 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.201705504 SN - 1521-3757 SN - 0044-8249 VL - 129 IS - 36 SP - 11094 EP - 11098 PB - Wiley AN - OPUS4-41851 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schürmann, Robin A1 - Ebel, Kenny A1 - Nicolas, C. A1 - Milosavljevic, A. R. A1 - Bald, Ilko T1 - Role of valence band states and plasmonic enhancement in electron-transfer-induced transformation of nitrothiophenol N2 - Hot-electron-induced reactions are more and more recognized as a critical and ubiquitous reaction in heterogeneous catalysis. However, the kinetics of these reactions is still poorly understood, which is also due to the complexity of plasmonic nanostructures. We determined the reaction rates of the hot-electron-mediated reaction of 4-nitrothiophenol (NTP) on gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) using fractal kinetics as a function of the laser wavelength and compared them with the plasmonic enhancement of the system. The reaction rates can be only partially explained by the plasmonic response of the NPs. Hence, synchrotron X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements of isolated NTP-capped AuNP clusters have been performed for the first time. In this way, it was possible to determine the work function and the accessible valence band states of the NP systems. The results show that besides the plasmonic enhancement, the reaction rates are strongly influenced by the local density of the available electronic states of the system. KW - Photocatalytic reduction KW - Raman-spectroscopy KW - Hot-electrons KW - Work function KW - Surface KW - Nanaoparticles KW - Scattering KW - Molecule KW - Carriers KW - Layers PY - 2019 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-486464 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.9b00848 SN - 1948-7185 VL - 10 IS - 11 SP - 3153 EP - 3158 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington, DC AN - OPUS4-48646 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Beyer, Sebastian A1 - Schürmann, Robin A1 - Feldmann, Ines A1 - Blocki, A. A1 - Bald, Ilko A1 - Schneider, Rudolf A1 - Emmerling, Franziska T1 - Maintaining Stable Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework (ZIF) Templates during Polyelectrolyte Multilayer Coating N2 - Equipping ZIF particles with a polyelectrolyte membrane provides functional groups at their interface, enabling further conjugations necessary for applications such as targeted drug delivery. Previous approaches to coat ZIF particles with polyelectrolytes led to surface corrosion of the template material. This work overcomes previous limitations by performing a Layer-by-Layer (LbL) polyelectrolyte coating onto ZIF-8 and ZIF-67 particles in nonaqueous environment. Using the 2-methylimidazolium salt of polystyrensulfonic acid instead of the acid itself and polyethyleneimine in methanol led to intact ZIF particles after polyelectrolyte coating. This was verified by electron microscopy. Further, zetapotential and atomic force microscopy measurements confirmed a continuous polyelectrolyte multilayer built up. The here reported adaption to the well-studied (LbL) polyelectrolyte selfassembly process provides a facile method to equip ZIF particles with a nanometer thin polyelectrolyte multilayer membrane. KW - Zeolithe KW - Molecular Organic Frameworks KW - MOF KW - ZIF KW - Layer-by-Layer KW - Beschichtung KW - Polyelektrolyt PY - 2018 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-447729 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colcom.2017.11.004 SN - 2215-0382 VL - 22 SP - 14 EP - 17 PB - Elsevier B.V. CY - Amsterdam, NL AN - OPUS4-44772 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Beyer, Sebastian A1 - Prinz, Carsten A1 - Schürmann, Robin A1 - Feldmann, Ines A1 - Zimathies, Annett A1 - Blocki, Anna A1 - Bald, Ilko A1 - Schneider, Rudolf A1 - Emmerling, Franziska T1 - Ultra-sonication of ZIF-67 crystals results in ZIF-67 nano-flakes N2 - Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks (ZIFs) are crystalline materials that comprise of metal nodes and Imidazole derivatives as linkers. ZIF-67 is often used in polymer composite materials e. g. for gas separation membranes. Post-synthesis treatment of ZIF-67 crystals with ultrasound leads to unforeseen plasticity that resulted in sintered ZIF-67 and ZIF-67 nano-flakes. Consequently, ultrasound increases the external surface area of ZIF-67 which might improve e.g. blending with polymers in composite materials. These new morphologies of ZIF-67 were characterized by transmission electron, scanning electron, and atomic force microscopy. The ultrasound treatment of ZIF-67 did not result in the formation of an amorphous framework or a meta-stable crystal structure as indicated by powder x-ray diffraction. In addition, ultra-sonicated ZIF-67 retained the high gas adsorption capacity and pore size compared to synthesized ZIF-67. The morphological changes are hard to detect with standard analytical methods that are usually utilized for MOF characterization. These findings also suggest that sonochemical treatment of ZIFs leads to structural effects beyond increasing the amount of nucleation clusters during sono-chemical synthesis, which is currently not addressed in the field. KW - ZIF PY - 2016 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/slct.201601513 SN - 2365-6549 VL - 1 IS - 18 SP - 5905 EP - 5908 AN - OPUS4-38496 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -